Well, it's scary to put some goals out there on the Internet, but here I go. Of course, I have some personal goals to work on this summer, namely de-cluttering my digital and analog life. Those goals aside, I have some lofty ambitions for the summer which include:

1. Taking a design course. Design is important to me because I like to turn out teaching materials and presentations that are visually stimulating and easy to read; I think this adds a lot of professionalism and legitimacy to my job. It seems hard to find the time in my schedule to take a course like this. From what I understand and remember from art and design classes, the creative process can be quite slow. I know I'd have to put more hours into a studio class than I have time in my schedule, so I'm going to try to learn what I can from Hack Design.

2. Make to-do lists. I'm always in so many different places, and I usually prefer to hand-write to-do lists, but I really run around too much to keep track of them. I find it sort of troublesome to have to log-in to an account to keep a to-do list, but I think by adding an extension to my homepage on Google Chrome, I might find it to be less cumbersome. I'm trying out Wunderlist now that TeuxDeux is no longer free.

3. Learn a new language. I really don't get a full summer vacation until September, when I plan to go to Zurich. While traveling is fun for me, it's much more enjoyable if I can converse with the locals. I've been playing around with Duolingo for a few months to work on the Deutsch, but now it's time to get serious. Plus, it's a great way for me to remember how my students feel learning English.

4. Take a research methods course. I'm still hemming and hawing on this one. My research skills are pretty good right now, but I think they could be buffed up, especially because I'm about to submit an IRB and hope to get another publication in the next year. Do I just bite the bullet and take the course for a grade, or do I ask to audit it? There are a few more days before I need to make a decision.

So, that's it. Those are my plans. What's in store for your summer? Set some goals!

This post was written after reading an inspiring article about managing productivity and creativity. Check it out.